The Story of The Pin, A Story of A Different Haymitch
by enchantingwickedrose
Summary: My take on the story of that mockingjay pin and how Haymitch came to be his current self, written a while back after I saw the premiere (lil late on my part dontcha think?) but anyways. It's been split up to add suspense/avoid wall of endless scrolling. R&R as they say. HayXoc
1. The Reaping

Hunger Games: Story of the Pin

A/N: Yes, I know that there's already the story of Haymitch and the other Tribute from District 12, May-something. But!, I wanted to make my own story to show why Haymitch gets drunk every day and a different reason for his guilt (and I'm super hyped from watching the premiere with my buds). And I know he had a girlfriend at the time, not in this story. Kind of like Katniss and Peeta but different. Oh well, here goes nothing! May the odds be ever in your favor…

Haymitch Abernathy and Amberlynne Lisaile

Haymitch POV

_It was the day of the Reaping once again, I thought. My name was only supposed to be in there five times since I was sixteen, this year it was nine. I had needed extra tesserae for my family since this year was harder for them. Feeding all of those mouths wasn't an easy task but I had entered more times for their sake. A woman walked up to the stage, dressed up in the Capitol garb that made me want to puke. Two bowls were filled with the names of people who were hoping that their slip wasn't picked. I stood with boys on one side, most of them I had grown up with, all of them with the potential of being chosen and dying a grisly death. _

_My eyes drifted to the side with all of the girls. I stifled a laugh when I saw one girl. She was picking a ladybug off of the ground and was cooing to it softly. She was Amberlynne, the gentlest person in all of District 12 and Panem. She was the same age but she was the only child and didn't need the tessarae, so her name was probably only there five times. She did her duty and attended the Reaping but she never watched the Games themselves. Her mother locked her in her room and forbade her from watching it, saying that she didn't want her to daughter to see what the 'horrible people leading this country into a pit' were forcing people to do. _

_And because of that, Amberlynne had no idea what death was. She always baby-sitted the children of the miners and Peacekeepers, gathered food, and played with the wildlife. She had never killed an insect or animal and was always bewildered when people began to talk about the Games. 'She would never survive the Hunger Games.' I mused to myself._

_The woman gave the normal spiel about the Hunger Games and the tradition behind it, Amberlynne, paying no mind to it at all, watched the ladybug fly away in the other direction of the screens. The short film ended and we both looked back to the woman selecting the slip from the girl's bowl. She unfolded it ceremoniously and the crowd held its breath as she read the name written on it._


	2. The Tributes

"_Amberlynne Lisaile."_

_The girls surrounding her backed away and Amberlynne gaped. Her mother cried out with a tone of agony eminent in her voice. The Peacekeepers restrained her and others grabbed hold of Amberlynne. Her eyes grew to the size of saucers as she was escorted to the stage, looking like a doe in the headlights as the woman smiled with the stunned Amberlynne into the camera. She was trembling, her hands wringing nervously as the woman congratulated her and selected another name from the bowl. The next girl was not nearly as scared, I didn't know what her name was though. She congratulated her and walked over to the boy's bowl._

_Once more she twirled her hand around the bowl and snatched a slip at random._

"_Haymitch Abernathy."_

_I walked up to the stage, hiding my fear at what was next. Unlike Amberlynne, I knew what was coming. Death, bloodshed, and the end of ever seeing my family again. Everything I knew, the life I had here, was about to end._

"_Any volunteers? Ladies? Gentlemen?" The woman asked, her voice fakely bright and cheery after she picked another boy's name who I had known from elementary school. I looked to Amberlynne. From close up, I could see that she was trembling. Maybe she did know what was in store._

_The crowd was dead silent._

"_Okay then… We have our Tributes, ladies and gentlemen! Amberlynne Lisaile and Haymitch Abernathy." She then said the other Tributes names. "A round of encouragement for these brave young men and women everyone!"_

_She was alone in her little clapping. Amberlynne instead crouched down on the stage, extending out her arms and closing them in a hug. The children near to her did the same. I recognized them as children she had watched over before and I followed with them. Soon each age group folded their arms with her until the whole crowd, child or adult, had done as she had including the other Tributes. She took three fingers to her lips and saluted to them. Once again they mimicked her. She stood up again and looked at the woman with vacant eyes._

"_Shake hands everyone."She instructed us. Amberlynne extended her hand out to me weakly, forcing me to grab it and shake it for her. The others shook our hands as well, Amberlynne still in an almost dazed state, despite being able to get the entire District to follow her every move._

"_Happy 50th Hunger Games, everyone!" The woman from the Capitol said, rushing us off of the stage._


	3. Family Time

**I opened my eyes. It was the morning of the reaping. What was it? 70th? 74th maybe? I shrugged and dragged myself out of bed, taking a swig of liquor as I stood up only to crumble back down. I put on a suit with much difficulty and hobbled through town and over to the stage. Effie Trinket, the new Capitol girl, was primping herself for the stage. I took a long sip out of the small bottle in my pocket. She looked at me in distain and continued adjusting her wig and nails. I closed my eyes at the headache the drink was giving me.**

"_You have three minutes." A Peacekeeper told me. My mother and sister emptied into the room, eyes red and dripping with tears. I held back tears but they came anyway._

"_Don't worry. I'll be fine. I'll live. I know I will." I said, knowing each word was a lie. I crouched down to my sister. "I'll come home again. I promise you, Sarah."_

_I looked to my mother, straightening up to meet her eye level. "Go to Joshua or Riley, they can help you if you need any food or anything." She nodded, wiping away tears with no avail._

"_Mom. I'll come back. I'll fight all forty seven of those Tributes to come back home, I promise. I will come home."_

_I hugged them one last time as the Peacekeepers told us our time was up. I could smell my mother's soap and the smell of wildflowers that my sister had been picking. I felt their warmth once more, for the last time I would be holding them in my arms._


	4. Truths

**I drifted back again. I had staggered over to Effie, my arms in a sloppy hug around her. The one that I felt my family give me. She jabbed me in the stomach with surprising strength and I careened off the stage. I landed face first onto the floor beneath the stage. I had no will to get up.**

"_You say goodbye to them?" Amberlynne asked me._

_I nodded, "You?"_

"_Yeah. My mother's a mess though. I don't know how I thought I __**wouldn't**__ get picked."_

_I furrowed my brow. "What do you mean?"_

"_My name was in there twenty-eight times."_

"_What!" I exclaimed. "But… Why? How? You're family is just the three of you. You don't need the tesserae that badly. How would you even get the tesserae?"_

"_True." She said. "But the kids did. None of them are old enough to put in their names and their families needed it. I did it for them. The Peacekeepers are pretty easily bribed and they overlooked the fact that none of the kids were blood-relatives. Since I'm practically a sister to the kids, they gave me the tesserae for them. I figured that everyone puts their name in a lot so I did it. I thought that there was a slim chance of my name getting picked. May-May put her name in there thirty five times, Nicole had forty two slips, and to me it seemed like one of them would get picked. Guess not. And now I pay the price."_

_She sighed. "I'm going to die, Haymitch."_

A/N: Hehe, couldn't help sneaking Peeta's line in there.


	5. Comfort in Death

_I tried to think of something to say to her but I knew that anything I would say to comfort her would be a lie. "Maybe you won't. There's always a chance. Why do you think they say may the odds be ever in your favor so much?"_

_The sides of her lips gave a half smile but she said darkly, "I can't hunt, I can't shoot, I don't know anything about the wild and I've never killed anything in my life. There is no way that I'm going to get out alive, Haymitch. You might as well stab me now and get it over with."_

_I smirked and said, "Okay then."_

"_Okay what?"_

"_I'll kill you." I poked her in the side. She flinched away, holding in her laughter. I did again on the other side and then began to tickle her ribcage. She fell onto the floor and I followed her down, not relenting on my tickling attack. She laughed loudly as I kept tickling her. "See? Now you're dead."_

_She laughed, "Yes, I died a gruesome death. Tell them to pick another Tribute; she died before they even got to the arena."_

"_Or onto the train, which is where you two need to be. Come now, we'll have plenty of time to get acquainted on the train." The Capitol woman said with a tone of annoyance in her voice. Not even out of the District and already making trouble was the look that I could see on her face._

_I helped Amberlynne onto her feet after I stood up and we followed behind the woman. I asked the woman as we loaded into the car, "What's your name again?"_

"_Maybelline Cosmos, young sir. I'll be escorting the four of you to the Capitol." She paused for a moment and then said, "Here we are, the train. Move along, we're almost behind schedule."_

_Amberlynne looked to me as soon as we got out of the car, a fear lurking behind her eyes. She stepped closer to me as we approached the train steps. She grabbed my pinky with her own and gave me a little smile as we stepped onto the train._


	6. Train Ride

"**Come on, Haymitch. We have to board the train now." I heard the undeniable voice of Effie say. "And **_**try **_**to talk to these Tributes this time. I'd like for them to at least last longer than a day, unlike the last ones did. Their names are Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark. Be nice to them and **_**try**_** not to get **_**so**_** drunk."**

"**Fine." I said. I staggered onto the train and sat in the chair. The two tributes filed in. The girl was okay looking but not so much that'd she get any sponsors. The boy had some charm. A little bit of muscle, that could work. They looked a bit better off than the four of us had. If only I could have told myself what I knew now. Maybe I wouldn't be drowning myself in this drink…**

_We rode in the train in what seemed like silence. Yes, we were talking. Maybelline was chatting her head off about sponsors and the other tributes were discussing something but something felt wrong. Amberlynne was quietly looking out the window as I scanned the cabin. I was expecting shouting, crying, tears… Something. Anything. But it was calm. Like we were taking a train ride to the Capitol for sightseeing, not to be slaughtered to pieces._

A/N: In actuality, this was orig just one huge chapter. Would you prefer it that way? If you've made it this far, tell me if you want more. R&R as they say. OUT~~~


End file.
